Herbert Ernst Brekle (11 June 1935 – 6 May 2018) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

. Brekle's main research interests were

semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy Philosophy (f ...

word formation In linguistics, word formation is an ambiguous term that can refer to either: * the processes through which words can change (i.e. morphology), or * the creation of new lexemes in a particular language Morphological A common method of word form ...

theory,

history of linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language, involving analysis of language form, language meaning, and language in context. Language use was first systematically documented in Mesopotamia, with extant lexical lists of the 3rd to the 2nd M ...

, history of Western alphabets and

typography Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), and ...

Life

Brekle worked from 1951 to 1957 as a compositor,

proofreader Proofreading is the reading of a galley proof or an electronic copy of a publication to find and correct reproduction errors of text or art. Proofreading is the final step in the editorial cycle before publication. Professional Traditional m ...

, and

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

.Brekle, Herbert E.: ''Die Prüfeninger Weihinschrift von 1119. Eine paläographisch-typographische Untersuchung'', Scriptorium Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, Regensburg 2005, , dust jacket He studied

English philology English studies (usually called simply English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries; it is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which is ...

, Romance studies and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

from 1958 to 1963, and obtained his doctorate in 1963. In 1969, he achieved his habilitation also at the University of Tübingen, where he had been a research assistant at the department of English philology headed by Hans Marchand; in the years 1967–69, he was supported by a postdoctoral scholarship of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. In the same year, Brekle was appointed to the chair of general linguistics at the University of Regensburg, which he held until his retirement in 2001. In 1974/75, he was a visiting professor at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

in Montreal, Quebec,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and ten years later at the

Université de Paris VII Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (french: Université Paris Diderot), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 197 ...

(1984/85). From 1984 to 1986, Brekle also held the office of the chairman of the German Linguistic Society (''Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft''). Parallel to his academic work, Brekle has also been active in politics and has held various political offices: In 1960/61, he chaired the

General Students' Committee The General Students' Committee (German: Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss) or AStA, is the acting executive board and the external representing agency of the (constituted) student body at universities A university () is an institution of hi ...

and the

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

branch of the Association of German student bodies (''Verband Deutscher Studentenschaften''). From 1972 to 1978 and again from 1990 to 1996, Brekle was member of the city council of

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, and from 1978 to 1982 member of the district assembly (''Bezirkstag'') of

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...

. Between 1978 and 1986, he also served as chairman of the Regensburg county group of the Bavarian branch of the League for the environment and nature conservation (''Bund Naturschutz in Bayern''). He died on 6 May 2018 at the age of 82.Prof. em. Dr. Herbert E. Brekle : Traueranzeige

Works

* ''Generative Satzsemantik im System der englischen Nominalkomposition'', 2nd ed., München 1976, * ''Semantik. Eine Einführung in die sprachwissenschaftliche Bedeutungslehre'', München 1972, * ''Einführung in die Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft'', Darmstadt 1985, * ''Die Antiqualinie von ca. -1500 bis ca. +1500. Untersuchungen zur Morphogenese des westlichen Alphabets auf kognitivistischer Basis'', Münster 1994, * ''Die Prüfeninger Weiheinschrift von 1119. Eine paläographisch-typographische Untersuchung'', Scriptorium Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, Regensburg 2005,

References

External links

Die typographische Herstellungstechnik der Inschriften auf dem silbernen Altaraufsatz im Dom von Cividale

Arbeiten zur Geschichte der Typographie 1964–2001

Arbeiten zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft

Beiträge zur Morphogenese der westlichen Alphabetschrift

Typ(en) und Exemplar(e): Systematisch-historische Darstellung mechanischer Abbildungstechniken von Inschriften
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brekle, Herbert E. 1935 births 2018 deaths German typographers and type designers Linguists from Germany Scientists from Stuttgart Academic staff of the University of Regensburg University of Tübingen alumni

Life

Works

See also

References

External links